When it is said
Pray it for someone you love who lives for food, or for yourself when eating has too strong a hold.
The Russian prayer book prints it among prayers against one’s own gluttony as well as prayers for others.
Where it comes from
Author known
Who was St John of Kronstadt?
St John served as a priest at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Kronstadt, the naval base near St Petersburg, from 1855 until he died. From the start he also looked after the poor of the city and their daily needs. The Russian Church Outside Russia declared him a saint in 1964, and the Moscow Patriarchate did so in 1990.
Orthodox Church in America, “Repose of Saint John of Kronstadt”; Wikipedia, “John of Kronstadt”
From his diary
The prayer comes from his diary, My Life in Christ, in a passage on praying for people whose faults you see. He gives a short prayer for the proud, the angry, the greedy, the envious, the drunk and the one who lives for food. Then he warns never to despise anyone for his sin. E. E. Goulaeff’s English of 1897 was made with St John’s approval.
The Scripture in it
“Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Church Slavonic
Го́споди, сладча́йшее Бра́шно на́ше, никогда́ же ги́блющее, но пребыва́ющее в живо́т ве́чный!
Очи́сти раба́ Твоего́ от скве́рны чревообъеде́ния, всего́ плоть сотвори́вшегося и чу́ждого Ду́ху Твоему́,
и да́руй ему позна́ть сла́дость Твоего́ животворя́щего духо́вного бра́шна,
е́же есть Плоть и Кровь Твоя́ и свято́е, живо́е и де́йственное сло́во Твое́!
From Azbyka’s prayer book, “Prayers for a glutton and in gluttony”.